Who here thought that Kawahi Leonard would start (for the Spurs no less) coming out the gate?

Point: No one really knows at this stage until the season starts and he gets real NBA action. Leonard himself quite possibly surprised himself. I'll just say that Ross doesn't look like a dud. So I am hopeful.

Off topic: Austin Rivers seems to be having a hard time of it. The Hornets want him as their starting PG. Yikes.

Looks like you forgot that DD started as a rookie...
I say both will start at and changes will be made as time goes by.... Also DC liked to do match up so it depends if we get brooklyn fir our furst game

I'm going with over. It won't be easy replacing DD since he's got dibs on second most number of chances one gets before he gets benched for under-performing. First is Bargs of course. There's that, and there's also the slight chance that DD actually improves over the summer and comes back a better shooter and defender. Emphasis on slight.

I don't like either of them at the 3 spot as they sacrifice too much size for my liking. They aren't the type of players that can play a position well when undersized. But if opposing 3's are of similar size then I don't see why not.

... and apparently TRoss has defense as one of his strengths ... Casey may want him to start to defend the Wades of the league.

We'll have to see. Hopefully Demar took the time to grow bigger and stronger and hopefully that will help him play a bit better defense. But I agree. I can see Ross playing more minutes against teams with dominate shooting guards such as the Heat, Nets, Lakers, etc...

... and apparently TRoss has defense as one of his strengths ... Casey may want him to start to defend the Wades of the league.

We'll have to see. Hopefully Demar took the time to grow bigger and stronger and hopefully that will help him play a bit better defense. But I agree. I can see Ross playing more minutes against teams with dominate shooting guards such as the Heat, Nets, Lakers, etc... But then again, I would like to see him play some NBA games first and then evaluate his defense since it's much harder to defend in the NBA.

Looks like you forgot that DD started as a rookie...
I say both will start at and changes will be made as time goes by.... Also DC liked to do match up so it depends if we get brooklyn fir our furst game

You are not seriously suggesting that a rookie starting for the Raptors is just as meaningful as doing so for the Spurs? The Spurs do not permit a hole in their starting unit. They know where they are going post season.

In any case I wasnt trying to compare either Ross or Demar to Leonard rather attempting to make the point that trying to predict whether Ross is worthy of starting or not is meaningless after 3 summer league games. Hence my opening point about KL....I dont believe even Popovich would have predicted he would be such a valuable and integral part of his team. Looking back on DD's rookie year I always felt he was force fed as a "starter" and I dont believe doing this to rookies as raw as DD was in certain bb skills (and he still is) is a good thing.

You are not seriously suggesting that a rookie starting for the Raptors is just as meaningful as doing so for the Spurs? The Spurs do not permit a hole in their starting unit. They know where they are going post season.

In any case I wasnt trying to compare either Ross or Demar to Leonard rather attempting to make the point that trying to predict whether Ross is worthy of starting or not is meaningless after 3 summer league games. Hence my opening point about KL....I dont believe even Popovich would have predicted he would be such a valuable and integral part of his team. Looking back on DD's rookie year I always felt he was force fed as a "starter" and I dont believe doing this to rookies as raw as DD was in certain bb skills (and he still is) is a good thing.

I guess whether or not Ross will eventually start over DD will depend on how well he does against NBA level player. If he can prove that he's better than DD by the trade deadline, I can see Demar getting traded for maybe an upgrade to the SF position...

People are really writing DeMar DeRozan off. It's really annoying me how people don't understand how he got 16 points per game on

Balls of Steel wrote:

Too bad he still dribbles like a 3 year-old.

.... Dribbling of a 3-year old, and near strength of Kevin Durant...

It's also like his second year just popped out too, he was incredible in his second year of the league, and I understand this was the year to make a jump, but the guy was under so much pressure without a proper training camp, facility use, and coaching I was not expecting him to be much of a better player.

If anything, not many players believed there was even going to be a season.

Ross hasn't proven anything to me other than what I know of him, his ability to shoot, and the big time defense, I haven't seen consistently of yet. Though he can cover ground on close-outs. He still needs to get stronger, and learn to get to the rim.

That's why people talk about them TOGETHER. To me, it doesn't matter who starts (preferably DeRozan, check post #26 on why), because both of them playing together is in supreme compliment. Shooting with slashing, sprinkle athleticism within' equals a nice wing combo.

People are really writing DeMar DeRozan off. It's really annoying me how people don't understand how he got 16 points per game on .... Dribbling of a 3-year old, and near strength of Kevin Durant...

It's also like his second year just popped out too, he was incredible in his second year of the league, and I understand this was the year to make a jump, but the guy was under so much pressure without a proper training camp, facility use, and coaching I was not expecting him to be much of a better player.

If anything, not many players believed there was even going to be a season.

Ross hasn't proven anything to me other than what I know of him, his ability to shoot, and the big time defense, I haven't seen consistently of yet. Though he can cover ground on close-outs. He still needs to get stronger, and learn to get to the rim.

That's why people talk about them TOGETHER. To me, it doesn't matter who starts (preferably DeRozan, check post #26 on why), because both of them playing together is in supreme compliment. Shooting with slashing, sprinkle athleticism within' equals a nice wing combo.

I'm of the opposite opinion. To me, DD hasn't proven anything in his 3 years, and I don't get what people see in him. He isn't good enough to start imo. He can't finish through contact, can't consistently hit jump shots, can't dunk in traffic, can't defend, can't dribble, can't create his own shot, can't pass, can't rebound. That's too many shortcomings for a starter. He'd be an awesome back up though.

Now Ross obviously hasn't even played a single NBA game, so we have no clue how that will turn out. Summer league, we should no by now, is no indicator of what a player can do in actual games. Just what he can't. And so far Ross hasn't shown any glaring weaknesses to his game, except maybe creating his own shot.

If it were only about skill it wouldn't be hard to replace Demar at the starting line up, but we all know he gets the BC vote to start unless I guess there's a clear gap in talent level between him and his replacement. Problem is I don't think people are looking for a better SG. Instead they are hoping DeRozan develops into a good one. Well...so far that hasn't happened yet.

i don't think ross starts at the 2 if demar isn't at the 3. i doubt they will have demar come off the bench. i think that if ross really kills it either from the get go or over the course of the year and demar struggles at the 3 it makes the demar decision easier on the gm.

i don't think ross starts at the 2 if demar isn't at the 3. i doubt they will have demar come off the bench. i think that if ross really kills it either from the get go or over the course of the year and demar struggles at the 3 it makes the demar decision easier on the gm.

I would agree to this. Only way Ross takes the spot is if Demar has completely regressed, (which I heavily doubt), and Ross really takes over games.